The Emergency Disaster Planning Meeting Was Held

Above, the Whispering Cedars Fire Station where the meeting was held. Photo by Armand Vaquer.

The Emergency Disaster Planning Meeting was held this morning at the Whispering Cedars Fire Station.

We were in the station's conference room, which wasn't big enough to hold everybody. Why they didn't hold it in the main section where the fire vehicles are kept is beyond me. We had a meeting there a few years ago and it worked out just fine.

The agenda wasn't exactly followed, but most everything on it were addressed by the end of the meeting.

Unfortunately, some of the speakers had a habit of giving long, detailed answers to simple questions. It was a case of "ask him the time and he'll give you the history of watch-making." Oh, well.

At least we found that no prescribed fires are planned for the area. That's comforting to hear. A prescribed burn got out of control near Santa Fe (and is still burning) and merged with another fire.

Interestingly, the juniper and pinon pines in the area usually have around 100% moisture content during normal years. Now they are in the 80s (I think 87% was stated). They need moisture to make sap to fight bark beetles.

We do have a CodeRed alert system in McKinley County. Access to it is through the county website. All one has to do is go to the website and register, which I found to be easy. I registered while at the meeting.

There are currently no evacuation plans, but those are being formulated now. As for livestock and pets, there is the possibility of using the Red Rock Park stables or the Prewitt Fairgrounds stables. They are working on that as well. The main problem is transporting the animals out of danger.

The main bone of contention was the shooting area on National Forest land. It needs to be closed for the duration of the National Forest Stage 3 fire restrictions (closure) that the rest of the Cibola National Forest is under.

One oddity of New Mexico. Fireworks are sold year-round, and not even the governor can halt sales. 

Authorities can "recommend" evacuation, but they cannot force anyone to evacuate in a disaster in New Mexico if they refuse to leave. Interesting.

I talked to one of the guest speakers after the meeting. I spoke with McKinley County Commissioner Billy Moore about freeway signs for Interstate 40. There are no signs pointing the way to Jamestown, just "Refinery". Since we don't live in "Refinery, New Mexico", we need signs for Jamestown. He gave me the contact person information at the New Mexico Department of Transportation to get freeway signs.

It was a useful meeting.